Not the way to do it. Politicking will kill fake news bill | Ireland

A crackdown on online black arts is laudable but Fianna Fáil has shot itself in the foot

Fianna Fáil could use a crash course in better marketing. On Thursday night the party scored a victory over the government by winning Dáil support for a bill designed to regulate online political advertising. The proposed legislation was a rare example of Fianna Fáil defying its image as a bunch of old fogies with an unhealthy devotion to Punch and Judy politics.

Unfortunately this excursion into the modern world was something of a mirage. Long before it came to the Dáil, the bill’s noble intentions and good ideas were relegated to a subsidiary role by the imperatives of party political game-playing. Rather than make history, therefore, Fianna Fáilers seemed more intent on repeating it.